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BERKELEY 

CIVIC  BULLETIN 

Published  Monthly  by  the  City  Club  of  Berkeley 

At  1923  Dwight  Way,  Berkeley 
Subscription  $1.00  Per  Year        «^^>76  Single  Copies  10  Cents 


Vol.  1  Berkeley,  California,  February  15,  1913  No.   8 

UNIVERSITY  EXTENSION 

CONTENTS 

I.  INTRODUCTION. 

II.  UNIVERSITIES  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

III.  UNIVERSITY  EXTENSION. 

IV.  THE  CALIFORNIA  PLAN. 

1.  The  Department  of  Class  Instruction. 

2.  The  Department  of  Correspondence  Instruction. 

3.  The  Department  of  Public  Lectures. 

4.  The   Department   of   Debating   and   Public   Dis- 

cussion. 

5.  The    Department    of    Information    and    Social 

Welfare. 

V.     APPLICATION  OF  THE  PLAN  TO  BERKELEY. 

A* 

This  bulletin,  prepared  by  Professor  I.  W.  Howerth  at 
the  request  of  the  City  Club,  is  printed  as  a  report  from  the 
committee  of  the  Club  on  adult  education,  of  which  committee 
Professor  Howerth  is  chairman.  Other  members  of  the  committee 
are:  Mr.  Victor  H.  Henderson,  Mr.  C.  L.  Biedenbach,  Dr.  Jessica 
B.  Peixotto  and  Mr.  F.  H.  Bird.  It  is  expected  that  this  report 
will  soon  be  followed  by  another  on  the  general  subject  of  the 
schools  of  Berkeley  as  possible  social  centers. 

FRANK  V.  CORNISH,  Secretary. 


_ 

- 

INTRODUCTION 

At  a  meeting  of  the  City  Club  at  the  Shattuck  Hotel,  on 
the  evening  of  January  21st,  three  addresses  were  delivered  by 
representatives  of  the  University  of  California.  Thomas  Forsythe 
Hunt,  Dean  of  the  College  of  Agriculture,  spoke  on  the  subject 
of  agricultural  education;  Mr.  Farnham  P.  Griffiths,  Secretary 
to  the  President,  on  student  government;  and  Ira  Woods 
Howerth,  Professor  of  Education  and  Director  of  University 
Extension,  on  the  subject  of  university  extension,  setting  forth 
its  value  as  a  means  of  university  service,  and  a  plan  of  univer- 
sity extension  to  be  followed  by  the  University  of  California, 
if  a  sufficient  appropriation  is  made  by  the  Legislature.  The 
following  resolution  was  adopted:  "Resolved,  that  the  City 
Club  of  Berkeley  endorse  the  university  extension  plan  proposed 
by  Professor  Howerth,  and  that  the  Legislature  be  urged  to 
appropriate  not  less  than  $60,000  for  university  extension  for 
the  next  biennium."  The  chairman  was  instructed  to  appoint 
a  committee  to  urge  upon  the  Legislature  the  necessity  of  such 
appropriation.  This  committee  consists  of  the  following  mem- 
bers: Frank  V.  Cornish,  Elmer  E.  Nichols,  B.  D.  Marx  Greene, 
Beverly  L.  Hodghead,  F.  W.  Searby,  S.  N.  Wyckoff  and  Hervey 
Hicks. 


RESOLUTION  PASSED  BY  STATE  FEDERATION  OF  LABOR 
At  San  Diego,  October  9,  1912. 

«  *  *  *  *  Whereas,  A  State-supported  university  can  make  returns 
to  the  people  who  pay  its  bills  in  two  ways,  namely: 

First — By  creating  in  all  the  people  a  realization  of  their  educational 
need  and  to  provide  the  facilities  for  satisfying  that  need — University 
extension. 

Second — By  making  its  graduates  useful  members  of  the  State,  who 
ealize  their  obligations  to  the  State,  i.  e.,  to  the  people  who  provided  for 
their  education;  therefore  be  it 

Resolved,  By  the  California  State  Federation  of  Labor,  in  Thirteenth 
Annual  Convention  assembled,  at  San  Diego,  October  7-11,  that  we  most 
heartily  favor  a  popular  system  of  university  extension  as  provided 
by  the  State  of  Wisconsin;  further 

Resolved,  That  we  hereby  direct  the  Executive  Council  to  use  every 
effort  at  the  next  session  of  our  Legislature  to  bring  about  such  changes  as 
will  bring  the  work  of  our  State-owned  University  nearer  to  the  needs 
of  the  working  people  of  California. 

PAUL  SCHARRENBERG,  Sailors'  Union  of  the  Pacific. 

The  committee  recommended  that  the  Resolution  be  indorsed. 

The  report  of  the  committee  was  concurred  in." 


II. 

UNIVERSITIES  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 

During  the  last  generation,  and  especially  during  the  last 
decade,  there  has  been  a  decided  change  in  the  conception  of  the 
public,  and  of  many  university  people  as  well,  with  respect  to 
the  scope  of  the  legitimate  activities  of  universities,  and  a  cor- 
responding change  in  the  attitude  of  the  universities  towards 
the  people. 

Men  used  to  think,  and  some  may  think  now,  that  a  univer- 
sity is  an  institution  established  primarily  for  the  pursuit  of 
truth — "the  passionless  pursuit  of  passionless  knowledge,"  as 
someone  has  expressed  it.  Research  was  long  regarded  as  the 
main  business  of  a  university,  including,  of  course,  the  training 
of  a  body  of  specialists  to  carry  it  on.  Incidentally  preparation 
for  the  various  learned  professions  might  be  provided  and  a 
modicum  of  knowledge  distributed  among  a  favored  few  who 
had  the  time  and  the  means  to  attend  university  lectures  and 
classes,  but  the  primary  and  avowed  purpose  of  the  university 
was  the  pursuit  of  truth.  "The  truth  is  so  beautiful,  so  divine," 
it  was  said,  that  it  is  worthy  of  pursuit  for  its  own  sake;  that  is 
to  say,  without  reference  to  its  applications.  Naturally,  then, 
it  was  a  matter  of  indifference  as  to  the  direction  of  a  univer- 
sity's interests  and  the  character  and  extent  of  its  activities 
so  long  as  they  manifested  devotion  to  the  truth. 

To  be  sure,  those  who  entertained  this  conception  of  the 
university's  functions,  when  confronted  by  the  criticism  that 
certain  university  studies  and  certain  scientific  investigations 
were  of  doubtful  utility,  could  make  reply  that  all  truth  is  valu- 
able, and  that  there  is  no  telling  what  practical  and  wide  reach- 
ing applications  may  some  day  be  made  of  any  truth  that  may 
be  discovered.  And  that,  of  course,  is  true. 

But  this  one-sided  conception  of  the  value  of  truth  in  general, 
and  the  consequent  idea  that  the  duties  of  universities  are  ful- 
filled by  the  general  pursuit  of  it,  occasioned  some  unfortunate 
results.  It  was  responsible  in  part  for  a  tendency  to  divorce 
the  higher  education  from  practical  life,  and  for  a  certain  amount 
of  scorn  for  the  utilitarian  viewpoint  with  respect  to  the  higher 
learning.  To  such  an  extreme  was  the  idea  of  "truth  for  truth's 
sake"  carried  that  even  a  man  of  the  wide  intelligence  of  James 
Russell  Lowell  could  say,  "nothing  useful  should  be  taught  in 
a  university." 

267562 


64 

This  idea,  however,  if  indeed  it  was  ever  seriously  enter- 
tained, is  not  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  our  time.  Demo- 
cratic ideas,  and  the  awakening  of  the  people  to  the  needs  of  the 
common  life,  make  it  absurd  if  not  impossible.  The  public  has 
sufficient  intelligence  to  perceive  that  truth  is  an  abstraction; 
that  professions  of  devotion  to  the  truth  with  indifference  to 
its  application,  that  is,  love  for  an  abstraction,  is  more  or  less 
of  a  pretense ;  that  service  of  the  people  and  not  the  worship  of 
truth  is  the  chief  end  of  man;  that  all  truth  is  not  equally  valua- 
ble, and  that  the  mere  indiscriminate  pursuit  of  truth  without 
regard  to  its  possible  utility  is  no  sufficient  justification  for  the 
existence  of  either  an  institution  or  an  individual.  To  the  uni- 
versities, therefore,  as  to  other  institutions,  the  criterion  of 
social  utility  is  more  and  more  applied. 

That  social  utility  is  the  test  of  institutions  is  particularly 
true  with  respect  to  state  universities,  educational  institutions 
supported  by  public  taxation.  When  people  pay  their  money 
for  the  support  of  an  institution,  they  naturally  expect,  and  they 
have  a  right  to  expect,  a  return — a  dollar's  worth  for  a  dollar 
paid.  They  may  be  expected  to  regard  contempt  for  or  indiffer- 
ence to  practical  utility  in  the  studies,  investigations  and  activi- 
ties of  a  university  maintained  at  public  expense,  as  more  or 
less  of  an  insult.  It  is  equivalent  to  the  assumption  that  uni- 
versities are  established  and  maintained  in  order  that  a  privi- 
leged few  may  enjoy  in  comparative  ease  and  comfort  the  digni- 
fied and  leisurely  pursuit  of  knowledge  without  responsibility 
to  the  public  as  to  the  kind  of  knowledge  pursued.  The  bare 
assertion  that  no  matter  what  may  be  the  character  of  university 
research  the  results  must  sometime  and  somewhere  turn  out  to 
be  valuable  does  not,  alone,  suffice.  The  people  know  that  this 
is  not  altogether  true,  and  that  if  it  were  true  it  would  be  none 
the  less  obvious  that  instruction,  a  research,  or  an  investigation 
might  be  more  useful,  and  more  immediately  so,  if  consistently 
planned  to  that  end.  Some  persons,  indeed,  may  fail  to  recog- 
nize the  value  of  indispensable  university  studies  and  investi- 
gations, and  demand  the  elimination  of  all  that  is  not  con- 
spicuously useful,  but  this  danger  is  not  to  be  obviated  by 
maintaining  that  considerations  of  social  utility  have  no  place 
in  a  university.  It  can  be  met  only  by  the  frank  recognition 
of  the  fact  that  a  university  is  a  social  institution,  and  by  the 
organization  and  direction  of  university  activities  in  conformity 
to  that  idea.  Universities  that  manifest  indifference  to  social 


65 

needs  should  not  be  surprised  if  their  work  in  general,  and  the 
consequent  need  of  supporting  them,  should  fall  under  suspicion. 
The  growth  of  the  social  consciousness,  then,  and  the 
widening  acceptance  of  the  democratic  ideal  have  occasioned 
a  new  conception  of  the  possibilities  and  duties  of  a  university, 
or  at  least  a  shifting  of  emphasis  with  respect  to  them.  This 
newer  conception  arises  from  the  belief  that  a  university  is  an 
institution  organized  for  the  realization  of  social  purposes, 
that  its  first  duty  is  to  the  people,  and  that  its  aim  should  there- 
fore be  to  make  itself  generally  and  practically  useful  to  the 
state  in  many  ways  and  in  the  highest  possible  degree.  No 
neglect  of  university  research  is  implied,  but  only  its  organ- 
ization and  direction  so  far  as  possible  to  practical  ends.  Such 
a  conception  must  necessarily  result  in  an  organized  effort  to 
supply  the  educational  needs  of  the  state  that  are  not  already 
supplied  by  other  agencies,  and  that  can  be  met  by  the  Univer- 
sity better  than  by  other  institutions.  Any  systematic  effort 
of  this  kind  must  result  in  a  form  of  University  Extension. 

III. 
UNIVERSITY  EXTENSION. 

The  idea  of  formal  university  extension  instruction  is 
usually  credited  to  Mr.  James  Stuart  of  Cambridge  University, 
England,  who  in  1867  was  invited  to  address  an  association  of 
ladies,  chiefly  teachers,  on  the  art  of  education.  With  the  idea 
that  it  might  be  better,  as  he  expressed  it,  to  practice  the  art 
of  education  before  them  than  to  theorize  about  it,  he  proposed 
a  course  of  eight  lectures  on  astronomy,  and  this  course  was 
given  in  Leeds,  Sheffield,  Manchester  and  Liverpool.  It  was 
repeated  in  other  cities,  and  gradually  the  features  that  have 
come  to  be  associated  with  the  lecture-study  method  of  univer- 
sity extension  instruction,  namely,  the  preparation  of  papers 
on  assigned  topics,  personal  criticism,  and  the  class  following 
the  lecture  were  introduced.  In  1871  the  new  movement  was 
adopted  by  the  University  of  Cambridge,  and  became  an  integral 
part  of  its  system.  Soon  thereafter  it  was  extended  to  London, 
the  various  educational  institutions  of  that  city  being  requested 
to  cooperate  in  an  endeavor  to  apply  it.  In  1878  a  London 
society  for  the  extension  of  university  teaching  was  formed. 
In  1892  Oxford  organized  a  "University  Extension  College," 
and  so  gradually  the  movement  spread  throughout  England, 
and  passed  over  into  Scotland,  Wales,  Ireland  and  America. 


M 

University  extension  in  America  was  initiated  by  an  address 
of  Professor  H.  B.  Adams,  of  Johns  Hopkins  University,  deliv- 
ered at  a  meeting  of  the  American  Library  Association  in  session 
at  the  Thousand  Islands  in  1887.  In  this  course  the  English 
scheme  of  university  extension  was  explained  and  recommended. 
The  Librarian  of  the  public  library  of  Buffalo,  New  York, 
arranged  at  once  for  a  course  of  university  extension  lectures. 
The  course  was  given  by  Professor  E.  W.  Bemis,  the  subject 
being  "Economic  Questions  of  the  Day."  In  the  following 
year  the  university  extension  method  of  instruction  was  made 
part  of  the  Chatauqua  movement.  Dr.  W.  R.  Harper  was  a 
member  of  the  committee  that  drew  up  the  plan,  and  his  interest 
in  university  extension  led  him  to  make  it  a  coordinate  depart- 
ment in  the  organization  of  the  University  of  Chicago  in  1891. 

From  the  beginning  the  university  extension  movement 
awakened  great  interest  in  America.  Many  organizations  were 
formed  for  promoting  it,  as  for  instance  in  the  cities  of  New 
York,  Philadelphia,  Indianapolis,  Chicago  and  Kansas  City. 
The  state  of  New  York  made  it  an  integral  part  of  its  educational 
system.  Various  state  universities,  and  especially  the  agricul- 
tural schools,  welcomed  the  movement  and  began  to  provide 
university  extension  courses.  Some  of  these  institutions  ap- 
pointed organizing  secretaries  or  directors  of  university  exten- 
sion, usually  a  member  of  the  faculty,  to  stimulate  the  formation 
of  local  centers.  The  spread  of  the  movement  was  rapid.  Wide 
public  interest  was  manifested  in  university  extension  con- 
ferences, in  articles  in  various  periodicals,  and  in  the  establish- 
ment of  a  few  journals  devoted  to  the  movement. 

In  spite  of  the  early  enthusiasm,  however,  the  results  of 
university  extension  were  more  or  less  disappointing  to  its 
friends.  After  a  time  there  was  a  gradual  decline  of  interest, 
and  the  consequent  death  of  many  university  extension  centers. 
This  was  due,  in  part  at  least,  to  the  fact  that  the  object  of 
university  extension  at  the  beginning  was  too  exclusively 
cultural.  It  ministered  chiefly  to  persons  of  leisure.  It  pro- 
fessed to  stimulate  the  intellectual  life  and  guide  the  reading 
of  busy  men  and  women.  Its  purpose  was  usually  expressed 
in  the  phrase  "bringing  the  university  to  the  people."  This 
was  interpreted  practically  as  the  provision  for  the  people 
generally  of  the  identical  instruction  given  in  the  university 
itself.  There  was  little  effort  to  adapt  the  instruction  to  the  real 
and  pressing  needs  of  the  people.  This  was  bad  pedagogy. 


Of 

It  neglected   the   more   prevalent   popular   interests   and   the 
necessity  of  meeting  the  people  on  their  own  level  of  need. 

So  conceived  and  so  organized,  that  is,  as  a  mere  attempt 
to  extend  beyond  the  class  rooms  of  the  university  the  identical 
grade  and  character  of  instruction  provided  for  resident  students, 
university  extension  could  render  only  a  small  service  to  the 
state.  Its  value,  though  real,  was  inconspicuous.  Moreover, 
it  lost  to  some  extent  the  respect  and  sympathy  of  those  who 
were  disposed  to  judge  it  by  its  success  in  maintaining  the 
recognized  university  standards  rather  than  by  its  actual 
service  to  the  people.  For,  in  the  effort  to  succeed  beyond  the 
provision  of  instruction  for  a  select  "few,  it  began  to  adapt  its 
methods  and  the  subject  matter  presented,  that  is,  in  a  certain 
respect,  to  lower  its  avowed  standard,  and  thus  made  of  itself 
something  different  from  if  not  less  than  what  it  pretended  to  be. 
It  was  not  at  once  perceived  and  admitted  that  the  strict  main- 
tenance of  classroom  ideals  and  requirements  under  the  usual 
university  extension  conditions  is  impossible;  that  to  do  so  is 
to  fail,  and  to  pretend  to  do  so  is  worse  than  failure. 

If,  however,  the  true  purpose  of  university  extension  is  to  ] 
enlarge  the  usefulness  of  the  university  by  such  service  to  the 
people  as  it  may  render  more  efficiently  and  economically  than 
any  other  constituted  agency,  then  the  adaptation  of  the  work 
to  the  actual  needs  of  the  people  is  necessary,  indeed,  a  primary 
consideration.  By  adaptation  is  meant,  of  course,  not  the  so- 
called  "cheapening  of  instruction,"  but  the  bringing  of  the 
subject  matter  of  instruction  within  the  range  of  the  popular 
interest  and  popular  needs.  This  is,  on  a  special  plane,  the 
exact  principle  that  every  successful  teacher  must  observe. 
There  should  be,  and  there  need  be,  in  university  extension  no 
lowering  of  standards  with  respect  to  quality  of  instruction, 
or  with  respect  to, the  amount  and  character  of  work  required 
of  such  persons  as  may  wish  to  avail  themselves  of  university 
extension  instruction  with  the  object  of  securing  a  university 
degree. 

There  was  one  striking  exception,  however,  to  the  almost 
general  decline  of  interest  in  university  extension  as  at  first 
conducted.  That  was  the  success  of  the  agricultural  colleges. 
Here  university  extension  succeeded  from  the  first,  and  for  an 
obvious  reason — it  was  more  practical  than  theoretical.  No- 
where has  the  success  been  greater  than  in  the  agricultural 
departments  of  some  of  the  great  state  universities,  as  for  in- 


08 

stance,  Cornell  and  Wisconsin.  In  the  University  of  California 
there  have  been  the  most  gratifying  results.  During  the  past 
year  the  attendance  at  the  Farmer's  Institutes,  and  other  meet- 
ings organized  by  the  College  of  Agriculture,  was  52,303.  In- 
cluding those  who  have  received  actual  instruction  from  the 
demonstration  trains  run  by  the  College,  the  total  number  of 
persons  in  the  State  actually  reached  last  year  through  the  ex- 
tension of  agricultural  instruction  was  154,927. 

In  general,  however,  as  already  explained,  university 
extension  declined  and  languished  until  it  was  established  on 
a  new  basis,  a  basis  plainly  indicated  by  the  success  of  university 
extension  in  the  agricultural  schools.  This  new  basis  is  the  idea 
that  university  extension  is  but  a  means  to  enable  the  univer- 
sity to  realize  itself,  that  is,  to  make  itself  generally  and  prac- 
tically useful  to  all  the  citizens  of  the  state.  University  Exten- 
sion may  no  longer  be  regarded  as  a  sort  of  university  philan- 
thropy, and  the  university  itself  as  a  sort  of  Lady  Bountiful 
providing  instruction  more  or  less  indiscriminately  and  osten- 
tatiously for  the  intellectually  hungry.  This  results  from  a 
recognition  of  the  fact  that  a  state  university  is  established,  not 
merely  for  the  convenience  of  groups  of  scholars  and  persons  of 
scholarly  tastes,  but  for  the  great  and  general  purpose  of 
promoting  the  common  good,  and  the  further  fact  that  this 
good  is  advanced  not  merely  by  the  accumulation  of  know- 
ledge, but  also  by  its  distribution.  The  idea  that  scientific 
research  alone  contributes  to  the  production  of  knowledge 
is  as  erroneous  as  the  idea  that  the  extractive  industries  alone 
constitute  economic  production.  In  the  field  of  knowledge, 
as  in  industry,  the  distributer  is  a  producer.  If  this  idea  had 
dominated  in  the  establishment  of  state  universities,  university 
extension  would  be  in  a  sense  a  misnomer;  for  the  state  would 
be  the  campus  of  the  university,  the  work  of  the  university 
co-extensive  with  the  educational  needs  of  the  state  that  a 
university  may  best  supply,  and  there  would  be  no  room  for 
extension.  In  this  newer  sense  university  extension  is  but  the 
recognition  of  the  true  relationship  of  the  university  to  the 
state,  and  the  assumption  on  the  part  of  the  university  of  the 
duties  implicit  in  its  creation. 

The  first  university  to  apply  the  new  idea  of  university 
extension  in  a  comprehensive  manner  was  the  University  of 
Wisconsin.  In  1908  it  drafted  and  put  into  operation  a  scheme 
of  university  extension  the  full  development  of  which  will 


69 

involve  the  expenditure  of  $250,000  annually.  The  plan  in- 
cluded not  only  lectures  in  series  but  in  combinations  of  lectures, 
concerts,  readings,  etc. ;  correspondence  instruction  in  almost  all 
subjects,  cultural  and  vocational;  the  assistance  of  debating 
clubs  and  persons  engaged  in  the  preparation  of  addresses; 
the  establishment  of  social  centers,  and  still  other  forms  of 
public  service.  The  results  have  more  than  justified  expec- 
tations. During  the  first  year  university  extension  lectures  have 
been  delivered  in  one  hundred  and  forty-seven  communities, 
with  a  total  attendance  of  forty-two  thousand;  three  thousand 
five  hundred  and  eighty-two  students  are  enrolled  in  the  corres- 
pondence department;  more  than  three  hundred  localities  in 
the  state  received  assistance  in  the  preparation  of  papers  and 
addresses;  seventy-eight  sets  of  lantern  slides  were  loaned;  and 
more  than  twenty-five  hundred  requests  for  specific  information 
and  advice  regarding  social  center  development  were  received 
and  answered.  The  expenditure  for  salaries  was,  in  round  num- 
bers, $72,700;  for  clerks  and  stenographers,  $15,300;  for  postage 
$3,633;  for  the  traveling  expenses  of  lecturers,  $7,450;  and  for 
other  purposes,  $13,700,  making  a  total  expenditure  of  about 
$113,000.  The  appropriation  of  the  State  for  university  exten- 
sion for  the  past  year  was  $125,000. 

IV. 
THE  CALIFORNIA  PLAN. 

In  the  University  of  California,  university  extension,  ex- 
cept in  the  case  of  the  College  of  Agriculture,  has  thus  far  been 
limited  chiefly  to  the  provision  of  a  few  courses  of  university 
extension  lectures.  This  is  plainly  not  sufficient.  The  people 
demand  more;  the  university  can  do  more.  University  exten- 
sion by  means  of  scholarly  lectures  on  history,  literature  and 
the  fine  arts,  is  good;  it  is  a  means  of  culture  and  there  should 
be  more  of  it,  not  less.  But  at  best  it  can  reach  only  a  few, 
chiefly  persons  of  leisure,  usually  with  college  or  university 
training.  The  masses  of  the  people,  however,  are  engaged  in 
the  industrial  occupations.  They  have  little  leisure  for  strictly 
cultural  studies.  Their  practical  need  is  help  to  a  higher  degree 
of  industrial  efficiency,  and  a  fuller  pay-envelope.  To  them, 
therefore,  should  be  offered  class  instruction  and  instruction 
by  correspondence  in  the  various  vocational  subjects — in 
agriculture,  in  civil,  mechanical  and  electrical  engineering,  in 
public  accounting,  and  the  like.  The  large  demand  for  cor- 


70 

respondence  instruction  is  shown  by  the  existence  in  this  country 
of  more  than  two  hundred  private  correspondence  schools, 
one  of  which  has  registered  more  than  a  million  students, 
eighteen  percent  being  college  graduates. 

There  is  obvious  need  also  to  make  as  accessible  as  possible, 
to  all  the  people  of  the  state,  the  facilities  of  the  university, 
especially  the  library  facilities ;  for  instance,  of  providing  debat- 
ing clubs  in  the  state  with  selected  topics,  references  to  the  best 
literature  on  these  topics,  books,  magazine  articles,  excerpts, 
clippings,  etc. 

Still  another  opportunity  for  the  university  to  serve  the 
state  is  by  establishing  a  department  of  information,  including 
a  bureau  of  municipal  research.  Communities,  municipalities, 
and  other  social  bodies  have  the  right  to  expect,  from  the  uni- 
versity, expert  service  in  the  solution  of  strictly  social  and 
municipal  questions;  in  the  planning,  say,  of  municipal  parks, 
buildings  and  playgrounds,  and  in  the  establishment  of  social 
centers.  The  utility  of  such  a  department  is  far  from  speculative. 

With  a  recognition  of  these  needs  and  these  opportunities 
the  University  of  California  purposes  to  organize  university 
extension  so  as  to  include  five  departments  in  the  University 
Extension  Division;  namely,  the  Department  of  Class  Instruc- 
tion, the  Department  of  Correspondence  Instruction,  the  Depart- 
ment of  Public  Lectures,  the  Department  of  Debate  and  Public 
Discussion,  and  the  Department  of  Information  and  Social 
Welfare.  The  scope  and  functions  of  these  various  departments 
may  here  be  only  briefly  described. 

1.  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF^CLASS  INSTRUCTION. 

Through  the  Department  of  Class  Instruction  classes  will 
be  organized  for  university  instruction  wherever  in  the  State 
a  sufficient  number  of  persons  can  be  united  for  the  study  of 
a  single  subject.  In  the  larger  cities  and  towns  there  will  be 
classes  for  teachers,  for  parents  and  for  persons  engaged  in  the 
various  industrial  occupations.  In  the  thickly  populated 
districts  around  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco,  and  in  Los  Angeles 
and  its  environs,  classes  for  regular  courses  of  study  conducted 
under  the  direction  of  the  University  and  continuing  throughout 
the  year  will  be  organized.  The  subjects  pursued  in  these  classes 
will,  of  course,  depend  upon  the  interests  of  those  wishing  to 
form  them,  but  it  is  expected  that  there  will  be  classes  in  history, 
literature,  the  languages,  economics,  education,  the  physical 


71 

and  biological  sciences,  the  domestic  arts,  agriculture,  engineer- 
ing, mechanical  drawing,  shopwork,  power  transmission, 
treatment  of  materials,  business  administration  and  man- 
agement, bookkeeping  and  accounting,  etc.,  etc.  Class  in- 
struction is  perhaps  the  best  form  of  instruction.  It  will  be 
followed,  therefore,  in  all  the  university  extension  work  of  the 
university  in  which  it  is  a  feasible  method.  In  the  case  of 
persons  who  are  prepared  for  regular  university  work,  and  who 
join  classes  in  subjects  that  do  not  require  the  library  and 
laboratory  facilities  to  be  found  only  at  the  university,  the 
work  of  university  extension  classes  should  be  exactly  equiva- 
lent to  instruction  in  the  university  itself.  Through  this  de- 
partment, then,  particularly,  the  university  will  extend  its 
instruction  to  the  people. 

2.  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  CORRESPONDENCE  INSTRUCTION 

Instruction  by  correspondence  is  designed  especially  for 
isolated  students.  Among  these  will  be  such  as  are  preparing 
for  college  or  professional  schools,  regularly  matriculated  stu- 
dents in  the  university  who  are  obliged  for  one  reason  or  another 
to  absent  themselves  for  a  time,  business  and  professional  men 
who  wish  to  pursue  a  systematic  course  of  study,  and  many 
other  persons  who,  being  sufficiently  interested  in  their  own 
intellectual  improvement,  will  take  up  the  work  merely  as  a 
means  of  culture.  Many  of  the  students  of  the  Summer  School 
of  the  university  will  avail  themselves  of  the  opportunity  to 
continue  their  work  by  correspondence,  and  thus  this  depart- 
ment will  supplement  the  work  of  the  Summer  School. 

But  it  is  expected  that  the  greatest  service  this  depart- 
ment will  render  will  be  that  of  affording  to  those  who  are  en- 
gaged in  the  industrial  occupations  an  opportunity  to  increase 
their  efficiency  without  giving  up  their  positions  and  expend- 
ing the  time  and  the  money  necessary  to  attend  the  university. 
The  value  of  the  correspondence  method  of  instruction  has  been 
clearly  demonstrated  by  the  University  of  Chicago,  the  Univer- 
sity of  Wisconsin,  and  the  other  universities  in  which  it  has 
been  employed.  Experience  has  clearly  shown,  what  indeed 
might  naturally  be  expected,  that  such  persons  as  undertake 
seriously  to  pursue  the  study  of  a  subject  through  correspond- 
ence have  more  than  usual  earnestness,  initiative  and  strength  of 
purpose.  The  method,  therefore,  is  selective  to  a  considerable 
degree. 


72 

In  addition  to  courses  in  the  various  subjects  mentioned  in 
connection  with  class  instruction,  and  offered  by  the  academic 
colleges,  the  College  of  Agriculture  will  provide  correspond- 
dence  courses  for  farmers,  and  those  expecting  to  live  on  the 
farm,  who  may  desire  specific  and  detailed  information  regard- 
ing the  production  of  certain  crops  or  animals.  These  courses 
will  give  specific  information  rather  than  present  generalizations 
with  respect  to  agriculture.  Instead  of  a  course  in  animal  hus- 
bandry, for  instance,  there  will  be  courses  in  swine,  dairy  and 
poultry  husbandry,  etc.,  each  course  being  complete  in  itself 
and  containing  the  information  necessary  to  specialization  in 
these  departments  of  industry.  Instead  of  offering  a  general 
course  in  crop  production  or  horticulture,  there  will  be  special 
courses  on  such  subjects  as  potato  and  alfalfa  growing,  apple 
and  lemon  culture,  etc.  Courses  in  economic  entomology  and 
plant  pathology  will  not  be  offered  as  such,  but  only  courses 
dealing  with  the  insect  pests  and  plant  diseases  that  affect 
the  crops  studied.  It  is  expected  that  the  instruction  thus 
offered  by  correspondence  will  be  of  immediate  and  practical 
utility  to  those  who  receive  it,  and  will  thus  directly  contribute 
to  the  development  of  all  the  agricultural  industries  in  the 
various  sections  of  the  state. 

3.  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  PUBLIC  LECTURES. 

This  department  will  include  two  chief  lines  of  activity. 
First,  it  will  provide  courses  consisting  of  a  series  of  six  to  twelve 
lectures  relating  to  one  topic  and  delivered  by  one  man.  Each 
series  will  be  carefully  outlined  before  its  delivery.  A  prepared 
outline,  with  references  to  the  best  literature  on  the  subject, 
and  other  helps  to  study,  will  be  printed  as  a  syllabus  and  put 
into  the  hands  of  those  who  attend  the  lectures.  A  small  library 
of  books  on  the  general  topic  will  be  selected  by  the  lecturer 
and  sent  from  the  university  to  the  center  in  which  the  lectures 
are  delivered,  without  cost  to  the  center  except  that  of  trans- 
portation, and  left  there  during  the  period  of  the  course  for  the 
use  of  its  members.  In  short  there  will  be  provided  in  these 
special  courses  every  possible  facility  for  the  encouragement  and 
pursuit  of  systematic  study.  The  primary  purpose  of  these 
courses  will  be  educational.  The  method  will  be  that  of  the 
lecture-study,  and  this  special  department  will  be  called  the 
Lecture-Study  Department.  Second,  in  addition  to  lecture 
study  courses,  this  department  will  provide  single  lectures^ 


73 

musical  recitals,  readings,  concerts  and  where  desired  a  mis- 
cellaneous combination  of  these.  There  may  be  throughout  the 
state,  taking  the  people  generally,  a  greater  demand  for  enter- 
tainment than  for  instruction.  But  instruction  is  possible 
through  entertainment.  It  is  a  legitimate  function  of  a  state 
university  to  attempt  through  university  extension  to  utilize 
the  popular  desire  for  recreation  and  entertainment  in  an 
attempt  to  elevate  the  standards  of  public  intelligence  and  public 
taste.  By  beginning  with  the  existing  demand  of  such  commun- 
ities as  may  not  now  be  interested  in  the  more  systematic 
forms  of  instruction,  and  by  presenting  only  excellent  examples 
of  music,  art  and  literary  entertainment,  the  public  apprecia- 
tion and  demand  may  gradually  be  raised  to  the  point  at  which 
lecture-study  courses  in  literature,  history  or  science  will  be 
supported. 

4.  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  DEBATE  AND  PUBLIC 
DISCUSSION. 

Through  the  Department  of  Debate  and  Public  Discussion 
the  university  will  assist  in  organizing  and  directing  the  inter- 
est in  debating  and  public  discussion  manifested  particularly 
in  the  high  schools  and  in  rural  and  city  debating  clubs.  In 
almost  every  community  there  is  more  or  less  interest  in  debat- 
ing, but  the  questions  proposed  are  often  insignificant,  some- 
times puerile,  and  the  means  of  preparation  for  discussion  are 
inadequate  or  completely  wanting.  Some  assistance  in  the 
way  of  organization,  the  selection  of  subjects,  references,  litera- 
ture, etc.,  is  in  some  communities  absolutely  essential  to  lift 
the  work  to  a  higher  plane.  This  department  will  encourage 
the  formation  of  clubs,  propose  live  topics  for  discussion,  cite 
references  and  collect  books,  magazine  articles,  and  other 
material  concerning  the  subject  of  debate  or  discussion,  and 
forward  the  same  to  those  who  may  request  them,  without 
charge  beyond  the  cost  of  transportation.  The  closeness  of 
touch  with  the  citizens  of  the  state,  and  especially  with  the  young 
people  of  the  schools,  which  such  service  will  necessitate,  will 
be  a  distinct  advantage  to  the  university  itself,  as  well  as  to  the 
people,  and  the  organization  of  such  a  department  would  be 
worth  while  even  if  undertaken  only  to  promote  the  growth 
of  the  university.  It  should  be  said  in  this  connection  that  the 
work  here  outlined  has  been  undertaken  with  success  by  Wiscon- 
sin University  and  also  by  the  University  of  Kansas.  The 


74 

Department  of  University  Extension  of  Kansas  University 
•ent  out  last  year  to  debating  clubs  in  the  state  more  than  1,400 
collections  of  material  for  the  use  of  debating  clubs,  which  col- 
lections are  known  as  "package  libraries."  The  University  of 
1  Wisconsin  sends  out  in  the  course  of  a  year  about  2,500  of  such 
ibraries. 

6.  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  INFORMATION  AND  SOCIAL 
WELFARE. 

In  the  universities  in  which  a  Department  of  Information 
and  Social  Welfare  has  already  been  instituted,  it  serves  as  a 
clearing  house  through  which  inquiries  of  the  most  diverse 
character  receive  consideration.  Scores  of  questions  concern- 
ing the  most  diverse  subjects  with  respect  to  popular  well-being 
are  sent  in.  These  are  referred  to  the  most  competent  authority, 
an  answer  is  secured  and  forwarded,  and  thus  an  attitude  of 
willingness  to  serve  is  shown,  and  a  disposition  on  the  part  of 
the  people  to  look  to  the  university  for  aid  is  encouraged.  In 
addition  to  answering  questions  directly,  this  department  will 
issue  bulletins  on  matters  pertaining  to  public  welfare,  collect 
and  exhibit  maps,  charts,  models,  pictures,  etc.,  of  social  in- 
terest, and  lend  them  to  communities  desiring  their  use,  without 
cost  except  for  transportation.  It  will  prepare  collections  of 
lantern  slides  for  the  same  purpose.  There  is  a  great  educa- 
tional opportunity  in  the  use  of  moving  pictures.  The  univer- 
sity will  endeavor  to  do  something  to  encourage  communities 
to  utilize  the  moving  picture  as  an  effective  means  of  instruc- 
tion. 

These  are  only  some  of  the  things  that  are  to  be  done 
through  the  Department  of  Information  and  Social  Welfare. 
It  may  be  desirable  for  it  to  organize  a  municipal  reference 
bureau  for  the  service  of  the  cities  of  the  state,  and  for  the  bene- 
fit of  all  persons  who  may  be  sufficiently  interested  in  municipal 
government  and  municipal  life  to  call  upon  it  for  information 
or  assistance.  Such  a  bureau  should  collect  and  keep  on  file 
for  the  use  of  those  who  might  wish  to  consult  them,  city  char- 
ters, reports  of  recent  city  legislation,  books,  magazine  articles, 
newspaper  clippings  and  other  sources  of  information  in  regard 
to  municipal  government  and  municipal  progress,  and  answer 
such  inquiries  as  may  be  made  concerning  municipal  organiza- 
tion and  administration,  public  utilities,  and  other  matters  of 
municipal  interest.  The  movement  to  establish  such  bureaus  in 


75 

the  various  cities  of  the  state  is  perhaps  not  likely  to  be  generally 
successful,  and  if  it  were,  some  of  such  bureaus  would  doubt- 
less be  inefficient.  It  will  be  far  more  economical  to  the  state 
if  an  adequately  equipped  bureau  is  maintained  at  the  univer- 
sity as  an  instrument  of  university  extension. 

This  department  may  also  include  a  bureau  of  civic  and 
social  center  development  to  stimulate  the  modern  tendency 
toward  a  wider  and  more  effective  use  not  only  of  school  build- 
ings but  of  all  buildings  belonging  to  the  public.  It  should, 
of  course,  be  prepared  to  furnish  any  information  required  con- 
cerning this  movement,  and  should  upon  request  co-operate 
directly  with  any  community  desirous  of  establishing  a  civic 
and  social  center.  From  this,  as  from  other  departments, 
bulletins  containing  information  of  social  interest  will  from 
time  to  time  be  issued.  One  that  may  serve  as  a  sample  has 
already  been  issued  on  the  subject  "State  Boards  of  Education." 


Such  in  brief  is  the  plan  of  organization  that  the  university 
has  adopted  with  respect  to  university  extension.  It  will  be 
administered  by  the  President  of  the  University,  the  Director 
of  University  Extension,  and  the  secretaries  of  the  different 
departments  of  University  Extension,  under  the  supervision 
of  the  Committee  on  University  Extension  of  the  Academic 
Senate ;  with  reports  to  be  made  thereon  to  the  Academic  Coun- 
cil of  the  University  at  regular  intervals.  In  order  to  organize 
and  administer  the  work  more  effectively  the  state  will  be 
divided  at  the  beginning  into  three  districts,  a  northern,  a  cen- 
tral and  a  southern.  Secretaries  of  the  different  departments  of 
University  Extension  will  act  as  organizers  in  these  districts. 
The  secretary  of  the  southern  district  will  have  an  office  in  Los 
Angeles,  and  direct  the  work  of  the  district  from  that  city.  The 
university  extension  faculty  will  consist  of  the  President  of  the 
University,  the  heads  of  university  departments  in  which  uni- 
versity extension  courses  are  announced  and  the  instructors 
offering  work  in  the  University  Extension  Division.  Members 
of  the  extension  staff  will  be  normally  members  of  the  university 
departments  in  which  their  work  is  given,  and  their  service  in 
university  extension  will  be  regarded  as  regular  university 
work. 


CALIFORNIA  IJBP 


76 

V. 
APPLICATION  TO  BERKELEY. 

The  advantages  of  the  plan  of  university  extension  herein 
proposed,  particularly  if  the  University  and  the  other  educa- 
tional agencies  of  the  city  co-operate  in  carrying  it  into  effect, 
should  be  soonest  appreciated  by  the  citizens  of  Berkeley. 
The  value  of  university  extension  instruction,  it  is  hoped  and 
expected,  will  be  realized  by  many  of  the  people  of  the  city 
through  active  participation  in  its  privileges  and  benefits.  The 
people  of  Berkeley  are  nearest  the  University,  and  university 
extension  is  like  charity  in  this  respect  at  least  —  it  may  well 
begin  at  home.  And  in  beginning  there  need  be  no  delay.  We 
need  not  await  the  action  of  the  Legislature.  Already,  in  co- 
operation with  the  Board  of  Education  the  committee  is  mak- 
ing an  endeavor  to  provide  evening  lectures  and  to  form  even- 
ing classes  in  various  subjects  in  the  schools.  Through  this 
co-operation  a  plan  is  well  under  way  to  make  of  each  school 
building  in  the  city  a  social  center  with  all  the  educational  and 
social  activities  that  a  social  center  implies.  When  the  complete 
plan  of  university  extension  is  in  operation,  we  shall  see  the 
university  itself  running  double  shift  —  that  is,  with  both  day 
and  evening  classes.  With  the  co-operation  of  the  school 
board  already  assured,  and  with  the  active  interest  and  support 
of  the  teachers  of  the  city,  women's  clubs  and  other  organiza- 
tions, which  will  certainly  be  given,  the  possibilities  of  pro- 
moting the  intellectual  interests  and  industrial  efficiency  of  the 
City  of  Berkeley  through  university  extension  are  sufficiently 
obvious.  A  wide-awake  state  university  endeavors  to  associate 
itself  closely  with  the  educational,  social  and  industrial  life 
of  the  people  throughout  the  state.  Its  association  should 
be  more  intimate,  because  more  immediate,  with  the  life  of  the 
community  in  the  midst  of  which  it  is  located.  This  relation- 
ship between  the  University  and  the  citizens  of  Berkeley,  with 
the  mutual  helpfulness  that  must  necessarily  result  from  it, 
will  be  appreciably  promoted,  it  is  hoped,  through  the  move- 
ment now  to  be  inaugurated  by  the  University  in  an  effort  to 
enlarge  the  scope  of  its  work  in  university  extension. 


V\  Q 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


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